Well it’s Monday. And someone wasn’t too happy that I had to leave for work this morning.

Please don't go to work ma!

Please don’t go to work ma!

My weekend ended on a high note yesterday. It was 48 degrees and sunny and I completed 3 miles outside without knee issues. The second treatment of ART and Graston must be helping a little. Just a little bit of tightness when I was done. I could tell that if I ran another mile or two it would have been sore so I’m glad I didn’t push it.

outside running is always better

outside running is always better

Other things that made me giddy this weekend….

I finished all my house cleaning and shredded old bills.

I dropped the shredder down the stairs and needed to tape it back together

I dropped the shredder down the stairs and needed to tape it back together

I also baked an apple/pear/cranberry crisp….and then polished off the entire thing! And I polished off a bottle of wine too! Now you see why I was so giddy? It was a very productive weekend 🙂

all gone

all gone

And of course the walks in the snow with Duncan made me giddy too.   Tomorrow is treatment #3 with Dr Williams! 

How did your day go? Was it Mayhem Monday or Mellow Monday? Mine was fairly mellow. 

Hi

Hope everyone is having a nice weekend. The painting is finally done! And now I’ve just got to keep plugging away and cleaning, putting back some things, tossing others and then tomorrow I’ll try and hit up Home Goods for some odds and ends. I cannot tell you how awesome it feels to have a fresh coat of paint on every single wall! It feels like a new home. YAY!

I ran 4 miles today and dedicated them to Meg Cross Menzies, the young mom/wife who was tragically killed recently after being struck by a drunk driver while she was out for a run. It’s really great when social media can help to make a unified circle of support and awareness during tragedies like this. #megsmiles #runnersagainstdrunkdrivers

megsmiles

I actually ran the boring 4 mile neighborhood route that I just told you in this post but today it wasn’t boring. I didn’t bring music. I just listened to my thoughts and prayed for Megs family. I also thought a lot about my own life. And I thought about how I can run a little safer on the streets. If there’s 2 things you can do when running outside it’s 1) Don’t wear both earbuds or even better run without music period. You should really be aware of the sounds around you. 2) Always run against traffic so you can see oncoming cars.

I’ve got 8 miles on tap for tomorrow and I’ll be spending the remainder of the day cleaning and organizing of course.

Question: Are you cozy at home or did you go out on the town tonight? I met my friends at a sports bar for a drink and some nachos but now it’s 10:40pm and I’m doing laundry and blogging. 

Oh lordy! I’ve been cleaning and packing up my rooms in preparation for the painter who begins painting EVERY SINGLE ROOM in my house on Monday. He said it’ll take about 5 or 6 days. Needless to say it’s been a bit like an archaeology dig. I keep uncovering candles, vases etc COVERED in dust. I’m actually planning on tossing a lot of the stuff. Note to self: No more fake or dried flowers like EVER. And may I say that I’m REALLY going to need my runs this week. I have so much anxiety just thinking about what COULD go wrong. I’m trying not to “spiral” as my boss says.

photo 2

Buh-Bye!

It’s been a little bit like when I first moved here (13 1/2 years ago)….a bunch of trips to the Home Depot where I think I Aisle 1 should just be named after me at this point. I bought a bunch of new light switch plates and some new lamps for the living room, some wood blinds, sink faucet and a wall sconce for my bathroom.

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$60 faucet + $350 for plumber to install faucet = time to date a plumber next?

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new lamps to help the dark corners. I wasn’t sure about them at first but the thought of dis-assembling, re-packing and returning them to Target seemed to daunting, so….I LOVE THEM! LOL!

It rained ALL day! So I took the dog to the pet store just to give him some excitement. Of course he was very naughty last night….for the first time ever he went into the garbage and left a mess. I was too embarrassed to take a picture of it.

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So I thought I’d “punish him” and make him stay in the way back of the Jeep (on our ride to the pet store mind you—punish, this wasn’t. lol!)

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is she feeling ok? What happened to my co-pilot status? It blows back here. Better give her my pathetic sad face. Oh right, I’ll just lean my chin like this…

Of course as soon as I went to back out of the driveway and saw that pathetic face I let him come up and ride shot gun with me. I’m a sucker.

Today’s “long run” was only 6 miles. Good thing because I have so much to do….I just don’t have time for a 20 miler. Thank god those are a couple months away! Although I have enough stress to reduce to last 100 miles easy.

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It felt like a nice easy run (except for the wind) but apparently I need to slow it down. I’m trying to keep long run days 60-90 seconds slower than race pace and I’m looking to keep a 10:40 average pace on race day (NJ Marathon) which means my long runs should be 11:40-12:10 min/mile pace (although I think that’s REALLY slow). My pace today was 10:22! I guess when a long run is only 6 miles it’s easier to feel fresh the whole time. I’m sure when it’s a 16 miler I’ll be right between 11:30 and 12:00 min/mile pace for sure.

On the training schedule for the week…
Monday: cross training which will probably be my trampoline and some resistance band work.
Tuesday: 3 mile fartlek on the treadmill at lunch because I already know I don’t want to get up early. Wednesday: OFF (Maybe just a walk of a few miles)
Thursday: 4 miles at an “as you feel” pace
Friday: OFF (Maybe just some stretching and foam rolling)
Saturday: 4 miles easy pace.
Sunday: 8 miles easy pace.

Question: How was your weekend? Did you clean? Was there dust? Are you a pack rat? Neat or messy?